1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plate material carrying apparatus for carrying materials stored on a material pallet one by one into a plate material processing machine such as a laser processing machine and punching press, and for carrying out products one by one of a plate material processing machine onto a product pallet.
2. Description of the Related Art
The description is given as to a conventional plate material carrying apparatus.
A mount frame is provided to the vicinity of a plate material processing machine, a plate material taking-in/out area is provided in the mount frame, and a material wait area and a product wait area are provided respectively to one side and the other side of the plate material taking-in/out area. A first pallet supporting member supporting a product pallet or a material pallet is provided in the plate material taking-in/out area, a second pallet supporting member supporting the material pallet is provided to the material wait area, and a third pallet supporting member supporting the product pallet is provided to the product wait area. A pallet taking-in/out unit is provided to the third pallet supporting member, and this pallet taking-in/out unit sends out the product pallet to the first pallet supporting member and takes in the product pallet from the first pallet supporting member.
A lifter table, which has a lift stand which supports the material pallet or product pallet and which can rise and lower, is provided, and this lifter table can move between the plate material taking-in/out area and material wait area.
A slat conveyor is provided to a suitable position of the mount frame so as to cover a circumference of the plate material taking-in/out area, and this slat conveyor has a plurality of supporting rollers which are rotatable in a suitable extent. The slat conveyor is constituted so as to be able to be switched between a blockade state that an upper part of the plate material taking-in/out area is blockaded and an open state that the upper part of the plate material taking-in/out area is opened.
A guide rail which is extended in the carrying direction is provided at a suitable position of the mount frame, and the guide rail is provided with a slider which can move to the carrying direction between a position above the plate material processing machine and a position above the slat conveyor. The slider is provided with a vacuum pad which adsorbs an upper surface of a material and can lift and lower, and the slider is further provided with a product damper clamping an end portion of a product.
Therefore, after a material is plate-material-processed, an end portion of the product is clamped by the product clamper, and the slider is moved from the position above the plate material processing machine to the position above the slat conveyor. As a result, the product can be supported by a plurality of the supporting rollers of the slat conveyor in the blockade state. At this time, the material pallet is supported by the second pallet supporting member, and the product pallet is supported by the lift stand on the lifter table in the plate material taking-in/out area. When the slat conveyor is switched from the blockade state to the open state, the products are stored on the product pallet.
After the products are stored on the product pallet, the lift stand on the lifter table is lowered so that the product pallet is received by the first pallet supporting member. Next, the product pallet is drawn out of the first pallet supporting member to the third pallet supporting member by the pallet taking-in/out unit, and the lifter table is moved from the plate material taking-in/out area to the material wait area. Then, the lift stand is raised so as to receive the material pallet from the second pallet supporting member, and the lifter table is moved from the material wait area to the plate material taking-in/out area.
After the lifter table is moved to the plate material taking-in/out area, the lift stand is raised, and a topmost material on the material pallet is positioned in a lower position adjacent to the upper end portion of the slat conveyor. Next, a plurality of vacuum pads are lowered, and the upper surface of the material is adsorbed by a plurality of the vacuum pads. A plurality of the vacuum pads are raised so as to lift the material, and the slat conveyor is switched from the open state to the blockade state. As a result, one of the materials is taken out so as to be able to be supported by a plurality of the supporting rollers of the slat conveyor.
After the material is supported by a plurality of the supporting rollers of the slat conveyor, the slider is moved from the position above the slat conveyor to the position above the plate material processing machine with the material being adsorbed by a plurality of the vacuum pads. As a result, the materials can be carried into the plate material processing machine, and the plate material processing can be performed by the plate material processing machine.
As mentioned above, in the conventional plate material carrying apparatus, after the plate material processing is performed and products are stored on the product pallet, one of the materials is taken out to be supported by a plurality of the supporting rollers of the slat conveyor. For this reason, it is necessary that the material pallet is moved from the plate material taking-in/out area to the product wait area and that the material pallet is moved from the material wait area to the plate material taking-in/out area by the lifter table, and thus there arises a problem such that the operation requires a lot of time and the efficiency of the operation is decreased.